Five Pillars of a Winning Marketing Strategy
Over the years we’ve created hundreds of marketing strategies at LeadPlan Marketing. In the beginning, we took some lumps, but over time our process for designing marketing plans has become a well-oiled machine.
Now, we understand you have a lot of options when it comes to information on how to market. Let’s get real; as entrepreneurs, our Facebook feeds overflow with “Marketing Experts” claiming they can get us amazing results from their bedroom office without ever even putting pants on. You can download their cool guide to “Sexy marketing secrets” for no charge at all. Many of you already have. Perhaps you’ve used some of their tactics and maybe even seen some results.
The thing is, these “Gurus” are using a “foot-in-the-door” tactic. They want to give you a taste of what their talents can do for you so you’ll buy in. They are leaving out certain pieces so you can’t fully get the results without them. At LeadPlan we believe in freeing our client’s brands. So, we have no problem at all laying out every single piece of exactly how we design a winning marketing strategy.
It is imperative that before you start designing a marketing strategy, you perform research to be sure you understand your customer. Anything you do for marketing must serve THEM. A marketing strategy is not about you. Your messaging is about them; your website is for them, your merchandise is for them; every single piece of what you are doing is for them.
Ok now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to get into the five pillars of sales conversions developed by the team at LeadPlan Marketing. A well-oiled marketing strategy should have a plan for each one of these pillars. Rest assured, we know from experience that if one of these pieces is missing, your online sales will be missing also
Pillar # 1 FIND
The first thing you will need is to be found. Think about your customer. Where do they go for information about a problem, they are having that you can solve? What books do they read, websites do they visit, what are they searching for in Google? In most of the buyer’s journeys, we use these days Google is always a prime focus.
You will Need a thorough Search Engine Marketing strategy that will fill this pillar of your marketing plan. It should include; Keyword research, content plan, PPC strategy, backlinking strategy. Also, this is where you will want to dial in any advertising. Be very careful about where you place your ads.
During pillar one planning you are looking to intercept your prospect wherever they are with a carefully crafted message around their problem and bring them into your world.
Pillar #2 Identify
Once a prospect has clicked your ad or article or video or whatever it may be, they will land at your website. How will they know and Identify with you or your product? Your messaging should be positioned to show empathy. Identify the struggle they are in, show them why your product or service is the most qualified solution.
Identify with them. Your headline should be your “why.” Why does your product exist? That why should also be exactly what your prospect wants. “A brilliant product launch” Follow it up with how “Stand out, connect with customers, Build your brand.” Show that you understand their problems.
Continuing this example:
Are you Launching a new product and struggling with
- How to plan an effective launch
- Developing a clear message that prompts your target market to buy
- How to leverage Amazon, SEO, conversion optimization, or social media marketing
- Where to spend your advertising dollars
- Fear of making the wrong decision and losing your investment
- Do you want your marketing set on autopilot so you can focus on growth?
Pillar #3 Trust
Now that you have brought them to you and established empathy you have showed them that you understand their problems, you will now need to build trust. This is the most crucial piece of any sales cycle. Without trust established there will be no sales. Any sales trainer in the history of selling from Tom Hopkins to Grant Cardone will tell you this. No trust=no sale.
In this pillar, you will need to establish testimonials, case studies, ingredient research, product comparisons, establish relationships with trusted influencers and things of this nature.
Video testimonials, for example, make very effective retargeting ads in social media.
Pillar #4 Purchase
Now that the prospect has found you, they’ve visited your website, and they feel you genuinely understand their pain. You’ve identified their issues and empathized with them. You have established trust and positioned yourself as the go-to for this industry, NOW and only now may you ask for the sale.
In this pillar, you are laying out how you want to ask for that first order. This is where you will identify special offers, coupons, discounts, and incentives. You will want to have different offers for different actions on your site.
For example, If you sell a Nootropic, a fish oil product, and a protein powder and someone is visiting your nootropic page repeatedly, they should begin to see an offer for first purchase discount of the nootropic.
Pillar #5 Evangelize
After purchase, there should be a strategy for getting them to talk about it. How will you get them to review the product? Can you incentivize them to share it?
In this last pillar, you need to have processes in place to make evangelization easy.
Is your product a statement? Are they willing to refer their friends and family? Would your customers wear merchandise for recognition? Vegan AF has done a great job with this.
